Moss bakery and cafe opens downtown Eugene with local, seasonal menu

Moss opened its doors at 992 Willamette St. in downtown Eugene on July 1, turning the former Poppi’s Anatolia dining room into a bakery and cafe built around local produce, seasonally inspired pastries, soups and sandwiches. A soft opening had already taken place by June 24, giving the Willamette Street storefront an early start before the grand opening.

The business did not begin as a brick-and-mortar restaurant. Moss started as a farmers market booth in 2025, and Moss Culinary Studio says the company was founded that same year by Katie Moss and Cody MacFadyen. In February, the owners described the project as a comfortable cafe and an extension of what they were already selling at the Lane County Farmers Market, a move that tied the new downtown location directly to the customer base they had been building outdoors.

That market-first identity is still the center of the operation. Moss Culinary Studio says it works with local farmers and producers and changes its menu with the harvest, an approach that gives the cafe a tighter regional link than a standard pastry case. In downtown Eugene, where lunch traffic, weekend strolling and market-adjacent activity can determine whether a small restaurant gets a steady following, that kind of clear identity matters as much as the baked goods themselves.

The storefront also carries its own history. Poppi’s Anatolia had occupied 992 Willamette St. for nearly 40 years before moving to the 5th Street Public Market as Poppi’s Greek Taverna, leaving one of downtown Eugene’s more recognizable corners available for a new tenant. Moss’s arrival fills that space with a business that already had local traction before it took on the costs and commitments of a permanent address.

For downtown Eugene, the opening is a useful gauge of whether independent food businesses still see the core as worth the bet. Moss is not just another cafe opening on Willamette Street. It is a farmers market operation that decided the city center could support a more permanent stake, and that choice says as much about the neighborhood’s pull as it does about the menu inside.